1. Free & Low-Cost Legal Research Options Lee Ryan, J.D., M.L.I.S. Research Librarian, USF School of Law, Dorraine Zief Law Library [Slides and outline available on TWEN and at: http://works.bepress.com/lee_ryan/. Last updated on April 6, 2016] [Based on the National Business Institute Seminar “Find it Fast and Free on the Net: Strategies for Legal Research on the Web,” Oakland, California, June 5, 2012.] Lee Ryan, J.D., M.L.I.S. Research Librarian, USF School of Law, Dorraine Zief Law Library [Slides and outline available on TWEN and at: http://works.bepress.com/lee_ryan/. Last updated on April 6, 2016] [Based on the National Business Institute Seminar “Find it Fast and Free on the Net: Strategies for Legal Research on the Web,” Oakland, California, June 5, 2012.]

2. http://works.bepress.com/lee_ryan/ Details! Live Links! Slides and outline via TWEN and bepress “Selected Works.”

3. Zief Research Guide http://legalresearch.usfca.edu/FreeLegalResearchSites

4. Caveats — Content & Coverage No secondary! No anno. Codes! No Shepard’s / KeyCite!

5. Free Statutes & Regulations

6. Best Free Statute / Reg. Option s U.S. Code — Cornell Legal Info. Institute (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/)http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/ Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) — Cornell LII (http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/)http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/ California Codes — Cal. Legislative Info. Service (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml)http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml California Code of Regs. — Cal. Office of Admin. Law (http://ccr.oal.ca.gov/) — powered by Westlaw!http://ccr.oal.ca.gov/

7. Free Case Law

8. Best Free Case Law Options Google Scholar - Legal Documents (http://scholar.google.com/) — Select “Legal Documents” before searchinghttp://scholar.google.com/ California Official Reports — public access web site (http://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/CACourts)http://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/CACourts Public Library of Law (http://www.plol.org/)http://www.plol.org/ Fastcase iPad / iPhone / Android App http://www.fastcase.com/ipad/ — iPad http://www.fastcase.com/iphone/ — iPhonehttp://www.fastcase.com/ipad/http://www.fastcase.com/iphone/ http://www.fastcase.com/android/ — Androidhttp://www.fastcase.com/android/

9. Best of the Best Google Scholar & California Official Reports

10. Google Scholar — Case Law http://scholar.google.com/ Select “Case Law” before searching.

11. Google Scholar – results (Cal. Courts filter) Filters — for court and date

12. Calif. Official Reports — public access site http://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/CACourts/ Default search — natural language Other search options — including full LexisNexis terms & connectors

13. Calif. Official Reports — results (nat. lang.) Up to 100 results (for natural language search)

14. Intriguing Newcomers Ravel & Casetext

15. Ravel (“data driven research”) http://www.ravellaw.com/ (“Advanced” plans are free for users with “.edu” email addresses … at least for now.)

16. Ravel — results in default sort

17. Casetext (legal commentary integrated with primary documents) http://www.casetext.com/

18. Casetext — results list (filtered) Topical posts added by users

19. Casetext — case display Summaries of Romer from later cases Posts (“insights”) written by users Later cases that cite to Romer “Heat Map” at margin showing most-cited parts of case “Heat Map” at margin showing most-cited parts of case Key passages (often- cited passages) of Romer

20. Free sites — summary of features

21. Low-Cost Options

22. Best Low-Cost Options Fastcase “premium” — $65 to $95 per month (http://www.fastcase.com/) (free to USF law students)http://www.fastcase.com/ Casemaker — $60 to $90 per month (http://www.casemakerlegal.com/) (Casemaker X is free to USF law students)http://www.casemakerlegal.com/ Versuslaw — $14 to $40 per month (http://www.versuslaw.com) (free to USF law students — “Premium” Plan)http://www.versuslaw.com AccessLaw — Calif. law only — $46 per month (http://www.accesslaw.com/)http://www.accesslaw.com/

23. Fastcase http://www.fastcase.com/ Multiple search options

24. Fastcase — advanced search screen Terms & Connectors or Natural Language

25. Fastcase — results (default view) Interactive Timeline option “Bad Law Bot” (flags potentially problematic precedent)

26. Fastcase results — Interactive Timeline

27. Casemaker Link for USF law students: http://www.casemakerx.com/ Single search-box Folders … more... Single search-box Folders … more...

28. Casemaker — search results Basic cite-checking Post-search filters Note-taking… Basic cite-checking Post-search filters Note-taking…

29. California’s Public Law Libraries http://www.publiclawlibrary.org/ When you need… …Shepard’s or KeyCite …Or other non-free resources When you need… …Shepard’s or KeyCite …Or other non-free resources Find the public law library closest to you

30. San Francisco Law Library Databases for researchers in the library (including Shepard’s, KeyCite)

31. Bloomberg Law Highlights — Live

32. Image courtesy of Véronique Debord-Lazaro, http://www.flickr.com/photos/debord/4932655275/

34. Supplemental Slides

35. Cal. Official Reports “advanced” searching (terms & connectors searching)

36. Calif. Official Reports — advanced search form Full LexisNexis “terms & connectors” options

37. Calif. Official Reports — results (advanced) No 25-case limit...

38. Other Free Case Law Options Public Library of Law + fastcase app

39. Public Library of Law http://www.plol.org/

40. Public Library of Law — results

41. Fastcase iPad / iPhone / Android App

42. 2 More Low-Cost Options Versuslaw, AccessLaw

43. VersusLaw (USF Law subscription to Premium Plan) Link for USF law students: http://www.versuslaw.com/

44. AccessLaw http://www.accesslaw.com/

45. Portals

46. Image courtesy of Tulane Univ. Public Relations, http://www.flickr.com/photos/tulanesally/3638658173/ Are Portals Passé?

47. Cornell Legal Information Institute http://www.law.cornell.edu/ State Materials (links to cases, codes, regs, etc.) Topical Materials (“Wex” legal encyclopedia)

48. Cornell LII — typical state listing (Nevada)

49. Search Engines to find state law or topical law sites

50. Searching for primary law & legal topics — nevada statutes nevada case law nevada "legal research" illinois "legal research" site:.edu health law research site:.edu [ The last 2 searches target university sites to find the sorts of helpful guides typically produced by law school research librarians. ]